


Echoes Of The Past

by WiltedGalaxy



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Captain Jonathan Widmark, F/M, He needs all the love, I love Nick Valentine so much, M/M, Post-War, Romance, there is no mention of battenberg in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 06:30:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12426927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WiltedGalaxy/pseuds/WiltedGalaxy
Summary: While searching for one of Winter's holotapes with Nick, you find one he's much less pleased to hear.





	Echoes Of The Past

**Author's Note:**

> I love Nick Valentine so much and if he says that "is there any machine you can't charm?" line one more time I'll implode

It started with a holotape.  
Funnily enough, you'd only been there for Nick to begin with. The BADTFL Regional Office had seemed a good prospective location for another of Winter's holotapes, and you'd found it easily enough, sat prim and proper next to a caps stash on a rusted filing cabinet.  
It was while you were still listening to that tape that you found a second one, nestled in a storage locker as if it was waiting for you.  
The title, messily scrawled on the label, had make you both snicker at first. "'We Are Done?' Jeez, is a police station really the place for a breakup note?" Nick had jested, and you'd given a comment about hot office gossip while you slotted the tape into your Pip-Boy.  
"Detective Valentine. Nick."  
Your blood runs cold. Nick looks up sharply from his cigarette.  
You make a move to turn the tape off.  
He speaks one word. "Don't."  
Not wanting to compromise his ability to hear it, you keep your hand awkwardly raised as the tape plays. The dust floats in the air, framing his face like he's in an old noir film. Trying to stay calm, he takes a drag from his cigarette.  
His old captain talks. Explains how Winter had been an informant. Explains how they'd been cheated.  
Nick's jaw was set. If he had breaths, they'd be dry.  
"Everything that's happened. With Winter. With Jenny. It's more than any one man should have to handle. You need help."  
He shut his eyes briefly at the mention of her name. Then, he opens them again, seemingly at an inner conflict about still feeling the pang of loss.  
Especially when this Valentine had never had her to lose.  
"...some new program they have to deal with trauma. Scanning brainwaves or some such. I'll get you the info. You're going. That's an order."  
The tape clicks off.  
You lower your hand to your side again.  
Nick flicks his cigarette off to the side. You don't even realise his other hand was clenched until he relaxes it.  
You leave together in silence.

You wander together after that. You stay silent for a while, apart from the occasional odd remark or request from either of you. It's at night, when you're sat together in an old shack you've cleared and you're gripping a Nuka-Cola in your hand, that Valentine finds the courage to speak.  
"Is it stupid?"  
You turn to him. His yellow eyes glow in the moonlight, and it's easy to notice them flick down under your gaze.  
"I mean, is it stupid for me to love someone who I never even really loved?"  
You gently run your fingertip against the rim of the bottle before responding.  
"Nick loved her. With his memories in your head, it'd be hard for you not to."  
You bite your lip a little before speaking again. "It must have been a pretty powerful love. To carry across minds like that."  
Nick nods, tips his head down. Stubs his spent cigarette onto the table, lets it fall to the floor where he crushes it with his foot.  
"It's hard sometimes. Telling my feelings from his.  
I know he loved. I can love too. I do."  
Then, he abruptly stops. You frown. 'Accidentally' giving away information isn't like Nick - he only tends to do that if he wants to tell you something he feels you should know but doesn't have the words. But not having the words is unlike Nick too.  
You glance up at him, suddenly nervous. His yellow eyes flicker in the dark, illuminating his face. He seems to be avoiding your gaze. Then he sets his jaw, and looks back at you.  
You're the first to whisper. "Who do you love, Nick?"  
He clenches his ruined hand. Unclenches it. Curses under his breath.  
When he speaks again, you see his face as calculating, as if he's choosing his words with the care of a goodnight kiss.  
"Nobody that'd love me back, since I became like this. That's something I accepted. The relative few perks of being a synth get cancelled out by the negatives, doll."  
Now it's your time to curse.  
You set your jaw. Turn to him suddenly, your hair whipping violently behind you. His eyes seem to flash in surprise, although he keeps his face neutral.  
"For someone who claims to be a detective, you're so damn unobservant sometimes, Valentine."  
You never get to hear his reply, because you've grabbed the side of his face and pulled his lips to yours.  
His lips are plastic. But they feel better than anything you've kissed since you melted out of that ice cube. They're so cold. So cold. But the exposed wires on his face are so hot, and you almost want to breathe in the heat.  
Then you wake up, and pull away with a gasp.  
You're about to apologize and give him some much needed space when he yanks you back to him.  
This time, you're both more aggressive, you gripping his shoulder, him caressing your cheek before tangling his unexposed hand in your hair. Your head swirls with the dizziness and delight of it all. He's wanted this as bad as you have.  
You grasp his other hand, and he grasps you back almost hesitantly - as if he's still somewhat afraid of hurting you. In a silent reprimand, you gently bite his bottom lip, before pulling away to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. With that, you meet his eyes, and the urgency melts away. He kisses you again, impossibly gentle, and you feel you might shed a tear.  
"I'll give you three guesses who I love, doll."  
"I'm not the detective here, Nick."  
He clenches your hand a little tighter.  
"It's a good thing you're still perfect."


End file.
